


The Son of a Traitor

by SuchASeeweedBrain



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, M/M, Musketeers AU, No Aliens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-03-20 20:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18999943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuchASeeweedBrain/pseuds/SuchASeeweedBrain
Summary: Michael had seen, met, talked to and danced with many beautiful people over the years, the advantages of being the King’s half-brother, but no one Michael had met could quite compare to Alex Manes. There was just something about him that drew Michael’s eyes to him every few minutes.Also known asThe story where I put our characters in 17th century France, and use everything I learned from watching the BBC's Musketeers series on Netflix.





	1. The Good Soldier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back! I took a little break after finishing my hockey AU (as it turns out, writing almost 90.000 words in about a month is a lot...) and now I'm back with another one! This one is not going to be as long, my brain can't handle the thought of that yet. I've planned out six chapters, but that might change. This first one is fairly short, it's kind of an introduction to the world. The second chapter is pretty much done and I'll probably post that tomorrow. I did just break my wrist, which isn't the best thing ever. 
> 
> This takes place in 17th century France. Now, I've been to France, more than once, I actually speak a little French, but I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on the country or the time period. I'm just going to roll with what I learn from Google and what I learned from the BBC show: The Musketeers (which is totally acurate to the time period of course).

Council meetings with Max always lasted long, but they had just been getting longer and longer since the threat of war with Spain had increased. So Michael did what he always did when he got bored. He kept a cautionary ear on Max to make sure he didn’t start any wars, and he people-watched.

Today’s crowd was a pretty interesting one. First of all, Isobel was there. She looked like a vision, as she always did in a lilac dress and her hair artfully done up with pearls woven through the strands. She was doing a pretty good job of looking interested, Michael had no doubt she had her opinions on what was being discussed, Isobel had opinions on everything. To her left was Noah Bracken, a Duke that seemed to have stolen Isobel’s heart, not an easy feat. He kept looking away from Max, who was still going on about how they couldn’t let Spain intimidate them, to smile at Isobel. Every time he did she would light up. They were kind of adorable. Michael was glad Isobel had found someone who could make her smile like that.

Also, there were several very severe looking, older men that kept looking at Michael disapprovingly. They were the grumpy old men that had been counsellors to their father and his father before. Okay, fine, Michael wasn’t looking particularly interested, nor was he sitting up properly in his chair. He was slouching a little, but hey this had been going on for hours, he was bored!

The people he felt most sorry for though, were the three musketeers standing along the wall. At least Michael was allowed to sit down, they’d been standing there for hours. Maria, standing closest to the door, wasn’t even pretending to be interested anymore. She had actually started leaning back against the wall slightly about an hour ago. Luckily they were standing behind the old council members.

Next to Maria was Kyle, he had a very blank look on his face, and Michael wasn’t entirely convinced he wasn’t sleeping with his eyes open. If anyone could do that, it was Kyle Valenti.

But the one that had been drawing most of Michael’s attention for the better part of the meeting, was Alex Manes. Michael had seen, met, talked to and danced with many beautiful people over the years, the advantages of being the King’s half-brother, but no one Michael had met could quite compare to Alex Manes. There was just something about him that drew Michael’s eyes to him every few minutes. He was about as tall as Michael, tanned skin and dark brown hair. He had these big, warm, brown eyes that always seemed to find Michael. Sharp cheekbones and a ridiculously pretty mouth. Honestly, Michael had never seen a man that was as _beautiful_ as Alex Manes.

It didn’t help that Alex also happened to be one of the best swordfighters in the regiment, and that he was very smart, and wonderfully kind. Michael may have liked him a little bit. That was a bit of a problem. Michael was the brother of the King, he was a Duke (thanks to Max, but whatever), he wasn’t really supposed to be falling for one of his brother’s guards.

‘Meeting adjourned.’ Michael was startled from his thoughts by Max’s voice finally closing the meeting. Michael swallowed a sigh of relief. Everyone stood as Max left the room, Michael stayed behind, hoping to catch Alex before he left.

‘Oh, Michael.’ He was distracted however, by Isobel coming up next to him.

‘Hello Isobel.’ He said, with a smile. He couldn’t help glance over her shoulder and watch as Alex disappeared from the room, along with Kyle and Maria.

‘Do you have somewhere to be?’ Isobel asked with a sweet, innocent smile. She had suspicions about Michael’s interest in Alex. Luckily she loved him unconditionally, and would _never_ do anything that would hurt him.

‘I just-‘

‘Go.’ Isobel waved her hands at him. Michael squeezed her hand in thanks and hurried from the room. He swung his head around, trying to locate the three leather-clad soldiers. He heard Maria’s laugh down a hall that headed towards the gardens. Michael followed, as he caught up he just heard the three saying goodbye. He waited in the shadows, it made him feel a little bit like a stalker, but he had no ill intentions.

‘You sure Manes?’ Kyle asked, Alex waved him off.

‘Yeah, Valenti, I’m just taking the long way home.’ Alex said, shooing the other two down the quickest path out of the gardens and into Paris. As the two started heading down the path, striking up an easy conversation, Alex waited there, standing in the sun, eyes closed and seemingly just enjoying the moment.

When the voices of Maria and Kyle had faded, Alex started walking. When Alex headed down the back path away from the castle, Michael finally allowed himself to emerge from the shadows and jog down the stairs.

‘Manes!’ Michael called after him as he almost disappeared from view. Alex looked over his shoulder and Michael almost tripped over his own feet. He chuckled softly and continued on slower as he headed further down the path. Michael caught up to him.

‘Are you alright there, Your Majesty?’ Alex asked with that smile that was always just a little bit too amused to be polite.

‘How many times must I tell you? It is Your _Grace_ , my brother is the Majesty.’ Michael said, as they came up on the low wall surrounding the inner gardens. It was _just_ tall enough to hide a person, something guards had complained about more than once.

‘Yes, but at what cost?’ Alex sighed.

‘That sounds like treason, Manes.’ Michael said, keeping his tone light and teasing. He knew Alex didn’t mean it like that. Alex stopped walking and settled with his back against the wall, he raised a challenging eyebrow at Michael.

‘Are you going to tell on me, Your Grace?’ Alex tilted his head, just enough that he could look up at Michael and that just wasn’t fair.

‘Of course not.’ Michael was drawn to him by a force he couldn’t explain. Alex just waited there for him as he got closer.

‘Thank you, Your Grace. What would you possibly want in return?’ Alex asked before dragging his teeth over his bottom lip. Michael didn’t bother answering.

Kissing Alex Manes was not an experience Michael found easy to describe. It was different from kissing a woman. Alex had more angles, more leather always in the way, more muscles that would clench under Michael’s hands. Alex wasn’t as soft, or as sweet. He was a soldier, a warrior and he kissed like it. He kissed like it was his last day on earth and he wanted to _burn_ the feeling of Michael into his soul. He made Michael feel off balance, like the world was tilting on its axis and there was nothing he could do to stop it accept hold on for the ride. He loved the way Alex would gently bite his lip, he loved the way Alex would dig his fingers into Michael’s hair like that would keep him there forever. Michael loved the contrast of the rough surface of the wall behind Alex and the supple leather he was wearing. The contrast between the callouses on Alex’s hands and the softness of his lips.

By the time he pulled back from Alex, he was breathing heavy. He rested his forehead on Alex’s shoulder, the leather of his uniform soft and well-worn against Michael’s skin. The fleur de lis on the pauldron on his shoulder was glaring at Michael. It was like Max was staring at him with that disapproving look. Alex’s breath was a little quicker as well, Michael was pleased to find, as it brushed past his ear.

‘I should really go.’ Alex said softly, the hand that was resting against Michael’s side clenched in his shirt, like he meant the exact opposite of what he was saying.

‘I know.’ Michael said, but he didn’t move either. Alex sighed and ran his hand through Michael’s hair, he tilted his head so he could look at Alex, who smiled down at him.

‘Come on Your Grace, I have a country to protect.’ Alex said, setting his hands against Michael’s chest to softly push him back.

‘I am the country.’ Michael said as seriously as he could manage. Alex raised both his eyebrows at him. Attempting to hide a smile.

‘No, your _brother_ is the country.’ Alex corrected him. He sighed. ‘Now, come on.’ He moved away from the wall and into Michael’s space.

‘Alright, alright, fine.’ Alex smiled and kissed him, deep and slow before sliding his hand along Michael’s chest and resuming his way down the path.

‘Enjoy the party tomorrow.’ Alex said over his shoulder.

‘Are you going to be there?’ Michael called after him. Alex shrugged.

‘Who knows, you’ll just have to wait and see.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me squeal with delight.


	2. All Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every time, Alex would hold his gaze for a second and then look away, like he was reminding Michael “I see you and I know what you’re doing”. Admittedly, Michael was trying to make Alex jealous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As it turns out, writing is much, much slower when you only have one hand to write with, luckily I wrote most of this before I broke my wrist, but from here on out it'll probably take me a bit more time to write the chapters. As it turns out, breaking a bone is not fun.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your comments, they make me super happy.

Michael loved parties. He loved the excitement and the music. He loved seeing all of these proper, noble people get progressively more drunk and act like idiots. Also, he liked (probably a little more than he should) that people preferred being around him, over Max. Michael had always been better at small talk and less intimidating than his brother. Max was the King, and people wanted to be on his good side, that meant that if they were nervous, they tended to gravitate towards Michael and not Max. He did also enjoy the weight of Alex’s eyes on him.

Unlike Michael, he was not allowed to join in the festivities. Michael wasn’t even really sure what they were celebrating, but that didn’t matter. Alex was stationed next to Queen Elizabeth (better known as Liz to her friends) tonight and he was probably happy about that. Liz was one of the nicer people to have to spend hours with. He could see that the two of them were exchanging words from time to time, even as Alex kept his eyes sweeping the room.

Michael, meanwhile, had found a Lady to dance with for the night. She was not as annoying as some of the other Lady’s he’d spend the night with. She smiled brightly at him and touched his arm, but sadly for her, she just didn’t compare to Alex. Michael tried to pay proper attention to her, he really did, but he kept catching Alex’s eye as he scanned the room. Every time, Alex would hold his gaze for a second and then look away, like he was reminding Michael “I see you and I know what you’re doing”. Admittedly, Michael _was_ trying to make Alex jealous.

The main problem with the two of them was that, as much as they enjoyed their little games, they did both have important jobs to do. Alex was literally responsible for the life of the Queen of France right there and then. Michael was supposed to be acting like a representative of the Royal Family. They couldn’t just sneak off and hide away for a while. They had, once, that particularly memorable party when Alex had been assigned to stay with Michael as his personal guard (tensions had been higher at that time). Currently, Michael didn’t require a personal guard. It was a shame, really.

‘-would you not agree?’ The Lady asked. Michael hesitated.

‘I am so sorry, Milady, I was distracted. What was your question?’ Michael asked. Her smiled tightened a little bit.

‘I said that the rumours about the Duke of Savoy and his supposed affair with his male servant are so repulsive, wouldn’t you agree?’ Now it was Michael’s smile that tensed. He’d been wrong, she was just as bad as all the other superficial, gossipy people he met at these parties. Why could none of them be like Alex? Why couldn’t they be smart and kind?

‘I don’t like to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong.’ Michael answered diplomatically. ‘What the Duke of Savoy does, is none of my business.’ The Lady pulled up her nose.

‘Well, you may not have an opinion on it, but I do. And I think it’s-‘

‘Oh I am so sorry, the Queen is calling me over, I have to go.’ Michael lied before bolting away from her. He did not want to deal with her anymore. It was always so easy for people to go from “you are alright” to “no, I don’t ever want to spend another minute around you”. Michael arrived at Liz’ throne. Michael was glad to see there was no one else around.

‘Michael.’ Liz said pleasantly.

‘Your Majesty.’ Michael made a quick bow, just because he knew it would make Liz roll her eyes.

‘Running away from Lady Madeline?’ Liz asked with a knowing smile. Michael glanced at Alex who was trying to hide a smile. Michael was tempted to stick his tongue out at him, but that wouldn’t be very royal of him.

‘Yes, she was not as nice as she seemed at first.’

‘No one here is. Right Alex?’ Liz asked without looking back at him. Alex was still standing perfectly still with his hands behind his back, scanning the room.

‘Of course, Your Majesty.’ Alex said in that level, emotionless soldier voice. The one that said he had no opinion on the matter whatsoever, even though Michael knew that was a lie. Now, Liz did actually turn to look at him and raise an eyebrow at him. Alex glanced at her and relaxed his shoulders just a little. ‘No one is exactly who they seem they are.’ He added, and that sounded a lot more like a genuine answer. Liz seemed to agree because she turned back to observe the room.

Michael was fairly certain that comment was about the two of them as much as it was about Lady whats-her-face.

‘I think I’m going to take a walk around the gardens, it’s quite warm in here.’ Michael said, it wasn’t really the truth, but he really didn’t want to strike up another conversation with someone who was just going to piss him off right now and he couldn’t hang around Liz too long, it would seem odd. Liz frowned.

‘You shouldn’t go out there alone.’ She said. ‘It’s dark outside.’

‘I will be fine, we’re on the safest grounds in the country.’ Liz didn’t look convinced.

‘Take Alex with you.’ She said, motioning for him to come forward.

‘I can’t leave you here alone, Your Majesty.’ Alex said, a light hint of distress in his voice. She waved him off.

‘Just send Maria my way when you go outside, she can guard me for a while.’ Alex seemed to hesitate. But at Liz’ insistent look, he agreed.

‘Alright.’ He settled, before motioning for Michael to lead the way. Completely professional. Michael wanted to roll his eyes but didn’t. He made a small bow at Liz, Alex did the same and then lead the way to the door Maria was standing at. The two Musketeers exchanged a few words at low volume and Maria quickly made her way to the Queen’s side.

They stepped outside into the slowly cooling night’s air. The garden was lit up by strategically placed lanterns. Michael started heading for the small pavilion, where they would hold musical performances in the summer. Alex followed a step behind him, but the further they got away from the castle, the closer he got, until they were side by side. Michael smiled.

‘So, are you cooling down a little, Your Grace?’ Alex asked as Michael stepped into the small pavilion, it was relatively sheltered by a large weeping willow that was on the edge of the pond close by. Michael sat down on one of the stone benches placed around the curved walls.

‘Oh yes, this is much better.’ Michael said, leaning back. It was actually a little cold, but there were ways for him to warm up out here. Alex was standing in the middle of the circular building, he had his hands behind his back, but his posture was more relaxed than it had been.

‘Good, we wouldn’t want you to get overheated.’ Alex said.

‘I don’t know, that actually sounds like fun.’ Michael hummed, making sure to smirk at Alex. He rolled his eyes.

‘Your Grace, I’m starting to think this walk in the gardens was just a plot to get me alone.’ Alex said, sauntering a few steps closer. Every time Michael thought he had Alex off kilter, every time he thought he had the upper hand, Alex would just take it all in stride, strike back quick and efficiently and leave Michael breathless. Like that thing he did where would walk, just so, and draw Michael’s eyes to the strong lines of his body. Or when he would smile in the way that made Michael’s pulse pick up speed.

Michael would call it unfair, but be had control in pretty much all other aspects of his life. His position as the King’s brother and trusted advisor, made almost everyone in the palace treat him, like they would treat Max, with respect. They listened when he told them what to do. But not Alex. When they were alone, Alex would talk back and tease and _touch._ Michael wasn’t sure if he believed in true love, or soulmates or anything like that, Liz and Max loved each other, but was that born out of necessity? Out of the fact that they _couldn’t_ be with anyone else? The previous King hadn’t loved his Queen, otherwise Michael wouldn’t even be here. But him and Alex, they just connected like-

A hand settled on the side of his face.

‘Are you okay Michael?’ It was so rare Alex actually called him by his name, Michael relished in it. He looked up at him and leant into Alex’s touch. God he was beautiful, the low light of the lanterns danced over his face, making his skin look golden.

‘Yes. Come here.’ He set his hands on Alex’s hips and pulled him further towards him. Alex laughed softly and went easily. Michael ended up bumping his chin into Alex’s stomach before Alex was able to lean forward so he could kiss Michael. It was an awkward angle like this. So Michael frowned and pulled Alex further towards him until he was practically sitting in Michael’s lap, his weapons were pricking in Michael’s arms and legs and this really wasn’t their best effort. Alex broke their kiss to laugh into Michael’s neck.

‘Come on.’ He pushed himself back from Michael until he was on his feet and dragged Michael over to one of the support columns, settling against it and pulling Michael into him. Yeah, this was better. Alex kissed him deeply and Michael could have stayed there all night but-

‘Your Grace?’ A slightly panicked call came from the direction of the palace. Just like that, Alex was gone. He just disappeared from Michael’s arms.

‘What is going on?’ Alex demanded, as he emerged from the pavilion with quick precise steps. He’d gone from melting into Michael’s arms to full blown soldier in a second.

‘Someone tried to get into the palace.’ It was apparently all Alex needed to hear, his head snapped towards Michael.

‘Your Grace, come, we must get you to safety.’ Michael didn’t have to take orders from Alex, maybe it wasn’t even technically an order, but none of that mattered because Michael was moving before Alex finished his sentence. If he trusted anyone around here to keep him alive, it was Alex. ‘Stay close to me.’ Alex said as he drew his pistol.

They hurried back towards the palace. Michael could feel his heartbeat in his throat. He knew Alex was tense, but he was much better than Michael at not showing it. He lead Michael back into the palace and straight towards the private wing. It was a rush where Michael kept his eyes mostly on Alex, as Alex kept his eye on everything else. They moved so quickly and quietly they almost ran into Kyle and Maria who were leading the group of guards surrounding Max.

‘Manes.’ Kyle said with a sigh of relief, he’d apparently been worried. No one else spoke as the two groups merged and Michael ended up in the middle next to Max. It still made him uncomfortable when guards did this. The idea that they would die for him, risk serious injury for him, made him feel queasy. They ended up in one of Max’s rooms, all guards stationed outside at the door. Only the three musketeers followed them inside, they were the most elite soldiers after all.

Max, however, didn’t seem that happy with this.

‘Why the hell were you alone with him?’ Max snapped at Michael, while pointing sharply at Alex. Michael frowned. Alex was looking out of the large windows, very pointedly not listening to the conversation, he looked like he was debating moving them further away from the windows, even though they were on the second floor.

‘What do you mean?’ Michael asked, managing to keep his tone casual.

‘I don’t want anyone of our family alone with a _Manes_.’ Now that made all three musketeers and Michael tense.

‘Why not?’ Michael asked defiantly. He could see Alex glance at him.

‘You know why, Michael. You’re not stupid.’ Max was trying valiantly to keep his voice under control, keep that regal façade of calmness, he wasn’t succeeding.

‘I thought you said you weren’t going to judge anyone on where, or how they were born Max. Wasn’t that the promise you made when you became King?’ Michael asked sharply. This really wasn’t the moment to argue, but if Max was going to go back on his own word, Michael had some things to say about that. ‘That’s why Maria was able to become a musketeer, it’s why you haven’t married Isobel off to some asshole overseas. Al-‘ Michael took a deep breath, catching himself before he could say something stupid. ‘ _Manes_ has done nothing to make us distrust him, other than being born to a terrible man.’

Max had his jaw clenched and was looking at Michael closely, like he was searching for something. Michael didn’t like it. Luckily, they were saved from having to continue their argument by Liz being lead into the rooms. Max’s face softened immediately.

‘Liz, thank God you are alright.’

‘I’m fine.’ She barely looked rattled. ‘Michael, I see Alex kept you alive.’ She sounded very pleased with herself. She didn’t know, but she pressed right on the painful spot. Max tensed again and Alex looked just the tiniest bit worried. Liz, of course, noticed immediately. She narrowed her eyes at Max.

‘Max wasn’t happy that I was out alone with a _Manes_.’ Michael tried not to play the little brother card too much, but sometimes, telling on his brother to his wife was necessary. Especially since Liz liked Alex. Max threw him a betrayed look that really didn’t belong on the face of a twenty two year old French King.

‘Max.’ Liz said with a sigh. ‘I’ve told you before, Alex Manes is a good man. I trust him.’ Max looked down at his feet. ‘We don’t judge people by the sins of their father. You wouldn’t want to be judged for some of the things your father did, would you?’

‘No.’ Max said softly.

‘Exactly, so let’s not do that to other people either, especially ones that risk their lives to protect us and our family.’ Liz said, taking his hand. She had been very good for Max. A calming, morally sound influence to keep Max off of his high horse. She was able to keep Max calm, even when she had issues with his behaviour. Michael did not have that talent.

‘You’re right.’ Max said after taking a deep breath. Max wasn’t going to apologize to either Michael or more importantly, Alex, but the admission was more than Michael could have gotten out of him.

They all stand around in a tense silence as they wait for the all clear from the captain of the Red Guard. When the door creaked the three musketeers were immediately ready to draw their weapons. It wasn’t necessary, the Captain of the Red Guard came in and declared that they’d chased the intruder off the grounds, but lost him in the streets.

Max sighed, frustrated that they lost the mystery figure, but relieved that no one was hurt and they were all clear to leave the room now.

‘How is my sister?’ Max asked the Captain after he gave his report.

‘She and the Duke are both in perfect health, they are in her chambers. Several musketeers brought them to safety, Your Majesty.’ He bowed and left the room after Max dismissed him.

Max and Liz disappeared further into the chambers without another word and it left Michael standing there alone with the three musketeers. Maria looked between him and Alex and smiled slightly.

‘We should head out, see if we can help with the search.’ She said to Kyle. Alex coughed.

‘Yeah, absolutely. I will join you in a second.’ Kyle looked a little confused, but followed Maria from the room regardless.

‘So, um, thank you, Your Grace.’ Alex said after the door fell shut behind the two musketeers. The emotion in Alex’s voice surprised him.

‘For what?’ Michael asked. He didn’t like all the distance between them, so he stepped closer to Alex. Alex swallowed.

‘For standing up for me, against the King. You didn’t need to do that.’ Alex said, he had his hands behind his back, almost like he was trying to stop himself from reaching out.

‘Of course I did. He is my brother, and he’s wrong to lash out at you for no reason at all.’ Michael said with a frown. ‘I don’t like arguing with Max, but I won’t let him hurt you.’ Michael flinched at the sentimental, emotional way the words came out. Their thing had been a thing for a while, but they never really talked about feelings. Michael was scared of chasing Alex away. He wanted to keep him in his life, so he just pretended it was all fun and games. Like he could walk away at any time. Like he could actually care about some of the random people he entertained himself with, beyond them just being a distraction from Alex.

‘I- I-‘ Alex looked like he was trying to find the right words, but couldn’t. He let out a frustrated huff, took a deep breath, and tried again. Michael had to brace himself. Alex would let him down easy, it was fine. ‘I would never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you.’ Alex said, it didn’t sound like it was quite what he was trying to say, but the forceful way he said it made Michael feel like it was important for him to remember this. Remember the way Alex said this. ‘Any of you.’ Alex added, as an afterthought. It was almost funny.

‘I knew I was your favourite.’ The way Alex rolled his eyes at that and broke the tension in the room.

‘I should go, before Maria an Kyle really get worried.’ He said, but Michael wasn’t quite ready to let him go yet.

‘Wait.’ Alex stopped moving backwards towards the door. ‘We should do that thing we used to do sometimes, where I say I want to head into Paris, but it’s fine because I’ll bring a musketeer. Except I make sure that musketeer is you.’ They had, in fact, done that a few times. It was the only way they could spend more time together than whatever brief moments they could steal around the palace. Alex smiled at him, it was that soft smile he saw so rarely.

‘The King just told you he didn’t want you alone with a Manes, and your plan is to sneak off into Paris for a day…with a Manes?’ He asked. Michael made a face.

‘Well, I didn’t say Max had to know _which_ musketeer I’m bringing along. I’ll just tell him it’s Valenti. He’s not going to check.’ Alex and Kyle were close, they grew up like brothers.

‘Isn’t he?’ Alex asked. ‘He seemed pretty upset about the whole thing.’

‘He needs to calm down.’

‘He’s the King, Michael.’ Alex said, as if that was supposed to excuse Max’s behaviour.

‘We will figure something out.’ Michael said firmly. He would, being around Alex, even just the stolen moments made him feel centred and calm in a way nothing else did. Screw Max and his entitled attitude, not everyone could be born the Crown Prince of France. Alex’s smile was about as soft as it got.

‘We will figure something out.’ Alex confirmed. He bowed lightly, but never broke eye-contact and he smiled just a little teasingly. ‘Stay safe, Your Grace.’ Watching Alex walk away always hurt, it was only bearable because Michael knew he’d come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys have feelings for each other, they just haven't quite figured out how deep they go yet.   
> As for Liz, I saw that her actual name is actually Elizabeth, so she just had to be queen. I don't make the rules. Plus, she's /Liz/ she would make an awesome queen. 
> 
> Comments make me squeal with delight!


	3. A day in Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘I’m not upset.’ Michael said automatically. Alex raised an eyebrow at him. 
> 
> ‘You’re a terrible liar.’ 
> 
> ‘No I’m not. I just can’t lie to you.’ Michael rolled his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfff, it took me about twice as long to write this. Typing with one hand really sucks.

It took Michael a week to convince Max that he wasn’t going to get horribly murdered the second he stepped off palace grounds. A week of pushing, mild arguments and the silent treatment. In the end all it really took was a few soft words from Liz and the assurance that he wouldn’t ditch his guard. Oh and the fact that Michael told Max he was going to take Valenti into Paris. That did mean that he actually needed Valenti to pick him up from the palace, which was not ideal. Except when they left the palace, Valenti headed right down the path that would take them directly to the garrison. Michael wanted to ask, but he was a little afraid of the answer. When Valenti looked at Michael, he couldn’t hide the small smile on his face. He turned back to watching the streets before he answered.

‘I know there’s really only one person you want to see in Paris today, Your Grace.’ Kyle said, he didn’t look at Michael.

‘Excuse me?’ Michael asked, fighting to keep control over his voice.

‘Alex explained to me that he’s helping you with a present for the King’s birthday, but that you don’t want His Majesty to know about that.’ Right. Max’s birthday, in a few weeks. Oh.

‘Right, yes. I didn’t know Alex told you about that.’ Michael said. For a second he thought Alex had told Kyle about them. Now, Valenti wouldn’t be the worst person to tell, he was a loyal friend to Alex, one of the few people that didn’t drop him the second it became clear what his father did. He’d stuck with him, even when Michael didn’t. But still, the thought of anyone outside of their soft, warm little bubble of teasing and kisses knowing about them, scared him. Kyle left him alone with his thoughts as they approached the garrison.

They walked into the open courtyard, Michael had dressed in his most regular clothes, none of the fanfare the he was forced into in the palace. He preferred it this way. People didn’t look at him as much when he dressed like this, in fact the last time he’d been out in Paris with Alex, people had looked at the musketeer more than they’d looked at him. Which was exactly what he was going for.

‘He’s probably upstairs, Your Grace. Would you like me to go get him for you?’ Kyle asked, as the courtyard appeared empty.

‘Could you just, point me in the right direction?’ Michael asked. It was not exactly what he was supposed to say, that was more along the lines of “yes thank you”, but it was the thing he wanted to say. Kyle didn’t miss a beat.

‘Of course, Your Grace. Up the stairs and take a right. Second door on the left. He is most likely doing paperwork.’ Valenti motioned for Michael to go ahead.

‘Thank you, Valenti.’

‘Not a problem, Your Grace.’ Kyle stayed downstairs as Michael followed his directions up the wooden stairs and into the building. The wooden door didn’t look special, but it was the room Valenti had send him to, so Michael knocked and opened the door. Alex was, as Kyle had suspected, behind his desk.

‘Your Grace.’ Alex said, eyes widening as he looked up. ‘I am so sorry, I didn’t realize you were here.’ He got up from his chair and went to round the desk. His movements were hurried. Michael closed the door behind him.

‘It’s fine, Alex. We are just trying to figure out what I should get Max for his birthday right?’ Michael grinned. Alex rolled his eyes and he came near Michael to grab his leather coat from the hook. Michael stopped him before he could. Alex out of his uniform was, if possible, even more attractive to Michael. There was something soft about him like this. The crisp white cotton shirt that hid some of the bulk in Alex’s frame. Alex had stopped when Michael tugged at his sleeve and he was looking at him expectantly.

‘Are we not leaving?’ Alex asked. Michael sighed and tugged at Alex sleeve again.

‘We’ll leave in a few minutes. Come say hello first.’ Alex laughed softly, and let himself be pulled into Michael.

‘Hello.’ Alex said as the were pretty much nose to nose. His one hand came to rest on Michael’s hip.

‘Pretty good call on what you told Valenti, very believable.’ Michael said and Alex’s gaze flickered to his mouth.

‘Are we talking, or are we saying hello?’ Alex asked, pressing his body against Michael’s. He didn’t bother replying. Kissing Alex was always accompanied by a certain sense of danger, a thrill. The thrill of doing something he wasn’t supposed to do. But, like this, just the two of them, in Alex’s office with only Valenti around, Michael didn’t feel any of it. It felt right. Alex rested his forehead against Michael’s.

‘Hello.’ Michael said softly. Alex’s laugh danced over his skin.

‘Time to get out of here, before Kyle starts to ask questions.’

‘He was very polite to me, you know. Much more polite than you are.’

‘Do you _want_ me to be more polite to you, Your Grace?’ Alex asked, stepping out of Michael’s personal space, taking his coat with him. He put it on, schooling his face into his professional blank soldier face. Michael frowned, he hadn’t really wanted Alex to put on _more_ clothes. ‘Do you actually have a gift for His Majesty, Your Grace?’ Michael decided he didn’t like this game. He stepped towards Alex, who was still working on buttoning his coat, and he started helping him with that.

‘Let’s not do that.’ Michael said, keeping his eyes on the button he was working on.

‘Do what, Your Grace?’

‘This game where we pretend we don’t care about each other.’ Michael still didn’t look at Alex when he said it. Alex’s hands stopped moving. Michael stopped moving as well, he forced himself to look up at Alex.

‘Okay.’ Alex said the moment Michael made eye contact with him. Alex was smiling again, not a trace of soldier Alex left in his face. He looked like sunshine and he smelled just a little bit like gunpowder. ‘I didn’t mean to make you upset.’

‘I’m not upset.’ Michael said automatically. Alex raised an eyebrow at him.

‘You’re a terrible liar.’

‘No I’m not. I just can’t lie to you.’ Michael rolled his eyes.

‘Good.’ Alex smirked as he grabbed his weapons belt and brushed past Michael to leave the room. ‘Let’s go.’

Alex waved goodbye to Kyle as they walked out of the garrison. Valenti barely looked up from where he was sharpening his sword. As they walked the streets of Paris, a gift for Max wasn’t brought up once.

The streets were busy, as they always were. Paris was bustling with everyone looking to buy, sell and trade. Looking to steal, rob and maim. Luckily people didn't try those last three with a musketeer around. The people on the street treated Alex like their prince. It was an honest sort of respect. Not something demanded by his status, but a respect that was earned.

Kids would wave at the musketeer, men would nod, women would smile. Alex took it all in stride, in fact, he didn't even really seem to notice. Michael noticed. It was pretty wonderful to see that the people didn't judge Alex.

They didn't seem to be going anywhere specific. Alex seemed to know where he was going though.

‘So what’s the whole deal with the King’s ring?’ Alex asked as they entered a little square. He nodded at a young woman. Michael laughed at the idea that that story had already reached the streets of Paris.

‘He gave it to Liz. It’s like a symbolic thing. It’s kind of like he’s giving a piece of himself to her. It’s silly.’ Michael said, as he stopped to let a few screaming kids past.

‘You think so?’ Alex looked at him, he looked genuinely curious. ‘I think it’s kind of romantic.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. I mean, they didn’t have much choice in the whole getting married thing, but he’s choosing to give her his family ring, one of the symbols of his royalty. It’s like he’s saying “we never got the chance to choose each other, but if I would have been allowed to choose I’d have chosen you”.’ Alex said and it did make Michael feel a little warm inside. The idea of, almost giving away a part of what made him royal, to the person he loved most.

‘That _is_ a nice sentiment.’ Michael admitted.

‘Have _you_ ever thought about giving yours away?’ Alex asked, moving seamlessly around a gaggle of chattering ladies.

‘Not really, but I haven’t had it as long as Max, nor was it as expected for me to get one. I’m not exactly a full royal.’ Michael said with a shrug.

‘You are now.’ Alex said, leading Michael down a new quieter street.

‘Yes, but I wasn’t born one.’ Michael noticed that he sounded a little bitter. It was funny how he’d been treated like crap by everyone in the noble spheres, until the King had recognized him as his son. Suddenly everyone had been so nice and welcoming to him and it pissed Michael off. He didn’t deal with hypocrisy very well. He enjoyed watching nobles squirm to try and get on his good side, that’s why he liked parties so much, but the backtracking and pretending they hadn’t treated him and his mom like crap made his blood boil.

‘I know what it’s like to feel like an outcast among your own people.’ Alex said softly. ‘I’m the Captain of the musketeers, and none of them would ever say it to my face, but I know they don’t trust me completely. My last name is enough to always warrant just a little hint of doubt.’ That was another thing that pissed Michael of.

‘Except from Valenti, right?’ Michael asked, one good friend was more valuable than dozens of fake ones.

‘Except from Kyle.’ Alex agreed. ‘I have no doubt they would fight for me, but I don’t feel like I can afford a misstep.’

‘I know the feeling.’ Michael said, and Alex smiled at him.

‘I know.’ He said. There was something very calm and settled about the way he said it.

Michael believed him too, that was the scary part. He knew Alex was one of the few people that would know what it was like. How it felt to not quite fit in where you were supposed to fit in. What it felt like to not be normal enough. Michael suspected that was what made them so good together. They understood each other on a level other people didn't, couldn't.

The only one that came close was Liz. A Spanish Queen in a French court. Especially in a French court that was balancing on the edge of war with her brother. Liz had been regal, undeterred and brave. There didn't seem to be anything that could shake her, and she had Max wrapped around her little finger. Which Michael saw as a good thing, not everyone agreed. The old men in Max's court would always side-eye her.

Michael sided with Liz at every opportunity he got. It was the younger generation versus the old garde. He knew there were rumours, there were always rumours, but these suggested that Michael and Liz were more than friends. As if Liz wasn't just as much head over heels for Max as he was for her. The rumours were ridiculous. If only they knew.

'Where is your head at?' Alex asked with a grin. Michael looked around and he realized they were in a deserted side street near the garrison. He flinched.

'Please tell me you haven't been talking to me this whole time?' Alex laughed.

'Don't worry, I noticed you were spaced out pretty quickly.' Alex assured him, he slowed down to a halt. The sun didn't reach into the alley, so they were in the shade and Michael shivered, suddenly cold. Alex noticed, he always seemed to.

'Cold?'

'Maybe a little.' Michael admitted.

'We should do something about that, right?' Alex asked, stepping closer. 'We can't risk you getting ill.' Michael attempted to hide his smile and tried to nod seriously. Judging by Alex's poorly hidden smile, he didn't succeed very well.

'You are here to protect me, after all.' Michael said, leaning his back against the wall. He didn't want to take his eyes off Alex, but he also wanted to make sure no one could see them.

'No one is there.' Alex said without looking away from him. He checked anyways, Alex was right, of course.

'How do you do that?' Michael asked with a laugh. Alex shrugged.

'I know exactly where everyone is at all times, Your Grace. That's how I keep you safe.' Alex set his hand against the wall next to Michael's head. 'There are three people in the alley west of here, one in the house three doors down. Five on the street we just came from.'

'Bullshit.' Michael said, watching Alex's twinkling eyes closely. Alex laughed and shrugged.

'You will never know.'

In the distance, Michael could hear the bells of a church.

'I should get back to the palace before Max sends out a search party.' He made a face. Alex smile tightened just a little bit. If Michael hadn't been so close, he wouldn't have noticed.

'Alright, we're almost at the garrison, Kyle can take you back.' Alex didn't move away yet.

'Are you worried about him?' Michael asked.

'Worried about who?'

'Max. Are you worried he's going to keep treating you like an enemy?' Michael asked. Alex seemed to consider the question for a second.

'I don't know. I think I have the two best people in the palace on my side. I just hope it's enough.' Alex said. ' _I_ know I haven't done anything, but I am the easiest person in the palace to frame, and I'm not the only who has realized that.'

'I have your back. If you ever suspect that someone is trying to frame you, please tell me.' Michael pressed. Alex nodded.

'I know that.'

'Just make sure you remember.'

'I will.' Alex kissed him once, it still made Michael feel like he was flying.

Alex brought him back to the garrison. Valenti didn't ask questions. Michael was starting to like him more and more. As he walked back into the gardens, and Valenti politely excused himself Michael knew he was smiling like a lunatic. It was the Alex Manes effect. He headed back into the palace, the guards straightened up as he passes them. He was about to head towards the library when a voice stopped him.

‘Michael.’ Liz’ voice sounded from behind him. Michael stopped and turned, waiting for her to catch up. She looked uncharacteristically frazzled, but not panicked, so he didn’t think there was an emergency.

‘Liz.’ He greeted when she’d arrived next to him.

‘Walk with me.’ She said and she continued down the hallway. Michael followed, curious what she wanted. ‘Do you remember my sister?’ Michael frowned.

‘Rosa? Yes I remember you told me about her, she ran away right after you came to Paris to marry Max right? She left a note saying she didn’t want to be a prisoner to her nobility?’ Michael remembered how distraught Liz had been, but also how badass he'd found that line.

‘Yes, well.’ Liz took a deep breath. ‘She’s here.’

‘Here?’

‘Yes, here.’ Liz waved her hands around vaguely. ‘In the palace. She showed up this morning right after you left.’

‘What?’ Michael asked blankly.

‘I know, and she told me she just wanted to show me she was alright and then she tried to _leave_ again. I just tried to figure out what could make her stay, and she said she wants to be a musketeer. But I can’t just put her forward myself, if people knew who she was she could be a target, and it would show favouritism. So, I was thinking, you are close with Captain Alex Manes, right?’ Michael fought his initial panicked defensive reaction.

‘What do you mean “close”?’ He asked as calmly as he could manage.  

‘I mean that you two get along, you trust him right?’ Liz asked, looking just the tiniest bit suspicious.

‘Yes.’

‘I’d like you to ask him to take on Rosa as a cadet.’ Michael blinked at her, somehow that wasn’t what he’d expected to come out of her mouth.

‘Why don’t you just ask him to do that?’ Michael asked.

‘Because he wouldn’t say no to me. Not even if he thought it would be a hazard to his own safety. He would say no to you, right?’ That seemed like a dangerous question. Alex did, in fact, say no to Michael, but he wasn’t supposed to.

‘Probably.’ Michael answered vaguely.

‘Good. So, you will ask him. Thank you, Michael.’ And just like that, she was off. Michael blinked after her. What just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, sparring and flirting, meeting Rosa and maybe some overly romantic gestures.
> 
> Comments make me squeal with delight.


	4. A Rose With Thorns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Please tell me she behaved?' Liz asked without looking at him.
> 
> 'Alex can handle her.'
> 
> 'So she didn't behave.' Liz sighed.
> 
> 'She was fine. Alex can handle her.' Michael repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back? It's me!
> 
> There was technically some other things planned for this chapter, but it got too long, so that is being moved to the next one. I have never written Rosa before, and we don't actually know all that much about her character, or I don't feel like I know much about her character. Either way, it was a challenge.

‘Rosa, this is Alex Manes, Captain of the musketeers.’ Michael introduced. He wasn't sure if this was going to go horribly or fantastically. Rosa was... not the easiest person to be around. Especially not if you were used to the agreeable nobles. Rosa was brash, fearless and stubborn. She had yet to meet anyone who she couldn't convince to do what she wanted them to, but she may have met her match in Alex.

'Hello Captain Manes.' Rosa stepped forward, holding out her hand to him. Alex's eyes flickered to Michael.

'What would you like me to call you?' Alex asked as he shook her hand. Rosa smiled, the last person she'd been introduced to had bowed to her, she had not appreciated it. She said that the moment she walked away from her life in Spain she was not a Princess anymore.

'Rosa Ortecho is what I go by, but just call me Rosa, it's easiest.' The only problem with that was that she didn't want to be a Princess, but she also wanted to treat everyone around her like her equal. She had already decided she was going to treat Michael like her brother-in-law, and he didn't really mind, but he couldn't speak for how others would react.

'Alright, nice to meet you Rosa.' Alex said, he didn't seem impressed by her yet. 'Do you have any experience with shooting or sword fighting?'

'No, but I can learn.'

'No experience at all?' Alex asked with raised eyebrows. 'And you want to be a musketeer?'

'Yes, just because I'm _a girl doesn't mean I can't learn_ -' Rosa started to rant, Alex's eyes narrowed.

'Stop right there.' Alex said sharply and Rosa startled into silence. 'I would say that to any person who wanted to become a musketeer without _any_ training. You need to learn to control your temper.' Rosa opened and closed her mouth twice, while Alex just looked at her with raised eyebrows.

‘But-‘ Alex raised his eyebrows further. 'Okay.' She settled on, she didn't quite get the tone right, but she tried. Alex cracked a small smile.

'We'll work on that.' He assured her, Rosa's face softened. 'Thank you, Your Grace. I'll take it from here.' Alex said to him.

'No problem, Captain.' Michael raised his eyebrows as he turned around to walk away. He just caught Alex biting his lip not to laugh.

'Alright Rosa, let's get started-' Alex's voice faded away as Michael headed back into the palace, he wasn't surprised to find Liz standing at a window nearby.

'Please tell me she behaved?' Liz asked without looking at him.

'Alex can handle her.'

'So she didn't behave.' Liz sighed.

'She was fine. Alex can handle her.' Michael repeated.

'No one could handle her, what makes you think Manes will be any different?' Liz asked, finally turning away from the window. She looked scared. Scared of losing her sister a second time, most likely.

'Alex is one of the most stubborn people I've ever met. If anyone can handle her, it's him. He's dealt with Valenti for years, he made Captain despite his history, he isn't going to let a little attitude get to him.' Michael tried to assure her.

'You keep calling him Alex.' Michael stopped breathing for a second. Right. _Manes_. Not Alex. He forced himself to breath out.

'Habit. He doesn't like to be reminded of his last name.' Liz narrowed her eyes at him. She hummed but didn't sound convinced. Liz left him alone after that.

Over the next week Alex continued to give Michael updates on Rosa, which Michael passed on to Liz. She learned quickly, but she was also stubborn and she was much too easily satisfied. She liked to argue with Alex over everything and he hadn't been having the best time with it.

He could handle her, that wasn't the problem. He just preferred not to. That's why Michael had managed to get over to Alex's room at the garrison under the guise of Alex giving him an update on Rosa's progress.

'She is so frustrating.' Alex groaned, pacing back and forth in front of his desk. Michael was sitting in the chair. 'She's smart as a whip and she learns incredibly quickly, but she is so unbelievably infuriating.' Alex started another back and forth down the room. 'And if she wasn't good I would just say she wasn't going to make it as a musketeer, but that's not the case. She's _good_.' Alex stressed. 'But she argues with me on _everything_. And I mean everything.' Alex breathed out harshly.

'Sounds frustrating.' Michael said when it seemed like Alex was taking a breath.

'Sorry for ranting, you didn't come all the way here just to hear me complain. What's been happening in the palace? All good?' Alex took a deep breath, but the tension in his shoulders didn't disappear. Michael frowned.

‘The palace is fine. The rich people are always fine. I am here because I wanted to check up on you.’ Michael said, moving around the desk to get to Alex. He set his hands on his shoulders and dug his fingers into the tense muscles.

'Ow.' He whined, but he didn't sound like he minded all that much. Alex's hair looked wild, like he'd been running his hands through the soft brown strands a lot.

'Just take a breath.' He could feel Alex's muscles move under his fingers as he did what Michael told him. He laughed softly as Alex dropped his head onto Michael's shoulder.

'Why did I have to be Captain again?' Alex mumbled against Michael's shirt.

'Just because you're Captain doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself. Delegate, Alex.' Alex lifted his head.

'I don't want to saddle anyone else with her either. Kyle has been helping me, but the Queen asked me to train her, so I will train her.' Michael frowned.

' _I_ asked you to train her.' He said. Alex looked at him with raised eyebrows.

'I'm not an idiot, Michael. I know the Queen asked you to ask me.' Michael pressed his lips together.

'Right.' Alex laughed, the rare startled noise that Michael could feel settle into his bones. Michael smiled and pulled him closer, Alex went easily. The fond look on Alex's face was one he'd seen before, but it still made him feel warm.

'Why are you looking at me like that?' Alex asked softly. He was close enough that Michael had no trouble hearing him.

It was a good question. He knew his face was probably doing something similar to Alex's.

'Why are  _you_  looking at  _me_  like that?' Michael countered. Alex rolled his eyes. He didn't answer, he leant in to kiss Michael instead. Michael wasn't complaining. Alex ran his hands through Michael's hair, he slid them down his neck and then softly pushed Michael back until his legs hit the desk, Michael-

The door flew open.

'Cap! I've figured it-  _oh God_!' Rosa jumped, slamming her hand in front of her eyes. Alex, who had finally started to relax under Michael's hands was now the furthest thing from relaxed.

'What did I tell you about coming into my room?' Alex said, and Rosa peeked between her fingers. Michael was still leaning back against the desk. Alex had leapt away from him, hand reaching for a weapon he wasn't wearing.

'You told me to knock.' Rosa said, lowering her hand slowly.

'Yes, I did. Startling a trained soldier is not a good idea.' Alex said, he was doing that thing where he hid his fear behind cool, calm, collected.

'And neither is marching in on your Captain making out with a Prince, right?'

'I'm not a Prince.' Michael said. Rosa rolled her eyes, had she leaned that from Alex?

'Semantics.' Alex narrowed his eyes at her.

'Close the door.' He said, his tone left no room for argument. Rosa did as she was told. 'Do you understand how serious this is?'

'I take it no one knows about this?' Rosa said, smiling just the smallest bit. Michael didn't like it. 'Scandalous.' She did something vaguely challenging with her eyebrows. Alex stepped towards her, the image of dangerous grace.

'Wipe that stupid smile off your face.' Alex said. Rosa narrowed her eyes at him. It was that familial temper rearing its head, except Liz knew how to use it in her favour.

'I don't think you should be ordering me around right now.' Michael felt himself go cold at her tone. Alex didn't seem affected. In fact, he stepped closer.

'If you think I'm going to let you blackmail me, you've got another thing coming.' Alex's deadly calm demeanour seemed to be a little unsettling to Rosa.

'If I tell anyone about this, it would ruin you.'

'Why would you want to ruin me?' Alex asked, it was a good question. 'Because I wouldn't let you take a break between exercises?' Alex made a face at her.

'I-' Rosa seemed thrown. 'I don't know.'

'Exactly.' Alex said. 'I am doing what is expected of me. I protect the people I need to protect and I'm teaching _you_ how to do the same.' He tilted his head. 'If you think you knowing who I love is going to keep me from making you run those drills once more than you want to do them, there's the door. Contrary to what you believe, this world does not revolve around you.'

It took Michael embarrassingly long to process everything Alex said after "I love". He barely registered Rosa giving in to Alex's logic, for now. He barely registered Rosa leaving. He vaguely registered that Alex closed the door behind Rosa. Alex let his head fall against the door with a thud that had Michael flinch out of his freak out.

'Are you okay?' Alex asked, not lifting his head off the door yet.

'Am _I_ okay? You're the one banging his head against the door.' Michael said, finally pushing himself off the desk.

'I'm not  _banging_  my head against the door.' Alex sighed. 'She won't talk.' It sounded a lot like he was trying to convince himself.

'Your logic was sound.' Michael tried.

'Too bad Rosa doesn't always listen to logic.' Alex turned to Michael and ran his hands over his face.

'It's going to be okay.' Michael said with as much conviction as he could manage. Alex smiled.

'Yeah, I'm sure you're right.' Alex said, with about as much conviction as  _he_  could manage.

‘Did you just say you loved me?’ Alex froze and Michael wanted to grab the words and swallow them back down. Why the hell had he asked that? Alex clearly hadn't said it with intent. Alex looked unsure of what to say. He seemed to be debating several options, Michael would have said something to help him, give him an out, but he was struggling to form a coherent thought.

'I did. Is that a problem?' Alex asked, he was doing the same thing he'd done with Rosa. That shutdown of his face where even Michael had trouble reading him.

'No.' Michael said, stepping closer to Alex. He had to swallow away his nerves. 'I have been thinking about that for a while.'

'About what?' Alex asked, jaw clenched tight.

'About how I should tell you I'm probably in love with you.' Alex took a beat before he replied with just the smallest hint of a smile.

'Probably?'

'Well, I haven't exactly felt this before.' Michael shrugged. Alex cracked a real smile.

'Me neither.' Alex said, he released the last of the tension in his shoulders.

 

‘You should at least learn the basics, we can’t always rely on others to protect us, Michael.’ Max said with a sigh.

They were in the gardens, Max, Liz, Isobel and Noah were lounging under a tent-like structure, to protect them from the sun. Michael actually enjoyed the warmth of the sun, and he didn't care much if his skin tanned a bit.

'I've survived so far.' Michael shrugged. He could  _feel_  Max clench his jaw.

'Michael.' Max sounded tired, honestly tired. Michael sighed.

'Fine. You know, if you wanted entertainment, you could have just said that.' Michael pushed himself up to his feet. There were several musketeers nearby. 'Alright, who wants to embarrass me in front of my family?' Rosa opened her mouth, but a sharp look from Alex was enough to shut her up. That was new. It seemed like Rosa had learned something from their encounter.

'I could teach you the basics, Your Grace.' Alex said, it made sense to Michael, Alex was the best-

'No. Valenti can teach him.' Max interrupted. Kyle looked at Alex, a dangerous thing to do when your King told you to do something. Alex didn't do anything. Kyle swallowed.

‘To be honest Your Highness, if you want your brother to have the best possible training he should learn from the best. Alex Manes is the best.’ Alex closed his eyes for a second.

‘Valenti.’ Max said deceptively calm. ‘I told you to do something.’ Alex started to move towards Michael. He drew his sword and artfully ignored the way the Red Guard tensed. He held the sword out to Michael, hilt first. An offer. Michael blinked at the weapon, was it even technically called a sword? It looked more like a work of art.

‘Keep your weight over your feet, don’t let him goad you into jumping at him. He’s weakest on his left side.’ Alex said in a low voice.

‘I thought he was supposed to be teaching me something?’ This sounded more like Michael was supposed to fight him. With a very sharp, very real sword. Michael was good with his fists. Fists were safe, the gleaming deadly sword he accepted from Alex didn’t feel safe. The only reason he even accepted it was because it was _Alex’s_ sword. Alex’s eyes shone with mirth as Michael held the sword like it had personally offended him.

‘Just relax.’ That was easy for him to say, he’d practically been born with a sword in his hands.

‘Ready, Your Grace?’ Kyle asked. Michael nodded sharply. ‘Okay, so what you want to keep in mind-‘

As it turned out, as scary as it all sounded, there was a lot of very boring theoretical mumbo jumbo that went into a swordfight. And Kyle was very good at talking. Michael tried to listen, he really did, but he kept being distracted by Alex. 

Alex was clearly attempting to make sure Rosa learned something from this, but she didn't seem to want to listen. Alex was pretty much spitting fire at this point. To everyone else he would most likely have looked like the picture if calm and control, but Michael could  _feel_  his frustration roll off of him in waves.

'Ready, Your Grace?' Michael blinked at Kyle.

'Um, yes.' Michael said, attempting to copy Kyle's stance.

'He wasn't listening.' Alex said without looking at them. Kyle looked at him, his face asking the question for him. 'Go on, just be ready, he's going to be terrible.'

'A little respect would be appropriate, Captain.' It was the first time Noah spoke up and Michael wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

'No, it's fine. He's right, I wasn't paying attention.' Michael said. 'Maybe we should just continue this some other time.'

'Oh come on Michael. At least give it a go, make us laugh.' Isobel said with a grin that didn't belong on the face of a Daughter of France. 'Just let him try to hit Valenti, it would be funny.' Alex's jaw clenched. Michael got it.

‘He’s not a toy, Is. He’s a human being.’ Michael sighed and he was about to go and return the sword to Alex and just end the whole charade, when Alex stepped in.

‘Try to hit me instead. No offence, Your Grace, but I think I could take you with my hands tied behind my back.’ Alex said with a grin that was just a little bit pleading.

‘Now _that_ does sound entertaining.’ Isobel agreed. Alex bowed lightly at her and folded his hands behind his back. Max watched him closely for a second, but nodded in consent.

‘Come on, Your Grace. Show me what you’ve got.’ Alex started circling him slowly and he looked relaxed, but Michael knew that wasn’t really the case.

‘What do I get if I win?’ Michael asked. He wasn’t flirting in front of his family. He wasn’t. Alex, who had his back to everyone but Michael smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

‘Whatever you want, Your Grace.’ Michael couldn’t smile like he wanted to, so instead he leapt for Alex.

It took Michael about two seconds to realize he was in way over his head. Alex moved with a grace and a poise that made Michael’s head spin. He didn’t try very hard to start, he didn’t actually want to win, but with the ease that Alex danced around him, Michael did start trying a little. It was like Alex knew what Michael was going to do before he knew it himself. It seemed like Alex took pity on him after a few minutes, because he sidestepped one of Michael’s attempted strikes and swiped his legs out from under him. Michael landed on his back with a thud. He dropped the sword.

‘I surrender.’ Michael said immediately. He could actually hear two people clapping. Liz and Isobel, of course.

‘I accept your surrender.’ Alex hid his smirk well. He reached out a hand to Michael to help him up. It wasn’t the most politically correct thing to do, but he clasped his hand with Alex’s and let him pull him back to his feet. ‘That was actually not bad.’ Alex said softly before releasing Michael’s hand and retrieving his sword.

‘Very entertaining. You are quite terrible Michael.’ Isobel said happily.

‘You could have let him win.’ Noah said to Alex and Michael was getting a little pissed off with his attitude.

‘That’s stupid, no one here thought I was going to win.’ Michael had to remind himself that him and Noah were equals, technically. He didn’t need to bow to him.

‘I would have been concerned if you won.’ Max said with a small smile. ‘You should keep training with the musketeers.’

‘With the Captain? Or with Valenti?’ Michael asked, Max sighed and looked at him for a few seconds before he turned to Alex.

‘You can train him, but any mark you leave on him, will be doubled on you.’

‘I understand, Your Highness.’ Alex said seriously.

‘Good.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upcoming: More sparring and flirting, more romance and some chaos. 
> 
> Comments make me squeal with delight!


	5. The Uninvited Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Is anything ever really in the past?' Michael asked and Alex sighed.
> 
> 'Yes. If you are both willing to let it go. Move past it. You don't have to forget it happened, but if you can choose not to hold it against each other, you can be together, be good together.' Alex looked at him with an open, vulnerable look on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Writing with one hand really is a Task, but at least my x-rays looked good and I don't have to get an operation! Yay!

‘To be honest, Your Majesty, I don’t really understand how you can stand to have him around.’ Michael was starting to wonder how Isobel could stand to have _Noah_ around. Luckily, Max seemed to agree, up to a certain point.

'I don't recall asking for your opinion.' Max said. 'I don't have him around, he's just teaching my brother to defend himself.'

'And Michael should learn from the best, wouldn't you agree, Duke Bracken?' Liz asked. It wasn't really a question, and Michael appreciated it.

With the tensions as high as they were, and the recent attempt of a shadowy figure to get into the palace, the subject of who to trust and loyalty was being brought up more and more. Of course, Alex was being dragged into that conversation almost every time (mostly by Noah). It was making Michael feel sick.

The worst part was that Michael didn't always want to be the one to defend Alex. Liz was already giving him these looks sometimes. He was glad she seemed to have taken it upon herself to stand up for him as well.

'I suppose so, Your Majesty.' Noah said.

'Well, if you are done, I'd like to go and get beat up by your sister now.' Michael said, smiling at Liz, silently thanking her.

'You have been sparring with Rosa?' Liz asked with a smile.

'Yes, and she's a menace.' Liz' smile widened.

'Good.'

Rosa was waiting for him outside, alone.

'Cap stayed at the garrison, he was busy, too busy to come spend time with you. That's how you know it's serious.' Rosa said as they started heading towards the garrison. Michael had been training there because it was easier for everyone involved.

'What has been going on?' Michael asked. It had been a few days since he'd seen Alex.

'The musketeers have been trying to figure out who tried to get into the palace and who may want to harm the King.' Rosa said, she looked more like a musketeer now. It basically meant she was wearing more leather. She hadn't been much of a problem for them, once she realized Alex wasn't going to just give in to her games like everyone else had always done, she softened up.

Especially because she realized it was something she could tease Alex over, something that could actually make Alex Manes blush. Michael would be lying if he said he didn't kind of enjoy it as well.

'Good. I'm sure you'll figure it out.'

‘Yeah, I’m sure we will.’ She agreed. There was also that, once Rosa had realized Alex was as righteous and as stubborn as he was, she had immediately decided he could do anything. That apparently included teaching Michael how to fence. As good as Michael was with his hands, he was not a major talent with a sword, or a rapier, as he’d learned they were also called. But Alex had an endless supply of patience, at least when it came to Michael he did.

 

‘That’s cheating!’ Michael called out as Rosa tallied another victory.

‘There’s no such thing as cheating when it’s life or death, Michael.’ Alex said calmly. He looked particularly tired today. Like he hadn’t been sleeping enough.

‘Well yeah, but this is practice, not life or death. Her using her dagger should mean… automatic disqualification.’

'Automatic disqualification?' Alex asked. He was trying really hard to hide his smile. 'Thanks Rosa, I'll take it from here.'

'Uh hu.' Rosa hummed, raising her eyebrows at Michael. He rolled his eyes and pushed her towards the exit of the courtyard softly.

'You know, it's not fair, she's so tiny. It's like I'm trying to spar against a mouse. A really sassy, feisty and quick mouse.' Michael put the practice sword back in the rack. Alex laughed softly.

'She is very tiny, I have to give you that.' A hand settled on Michael's shoulder. 'Pick that back up.' A hand gestured to the practice sword. He could feel Alex's breath on the back of his neck.

'Why?' Michael asked. A hand settled on his lower back.

'Because I'm not done with you yet.' Alex brushed by him to take a sword of his own. 'Let's go, Your Grace.'

'This isn't fair either, you know?' Michael picked the sword back up.

'What isn't fair?' Alex asked, flipping the sword effortlessly.

'This.' Michael waved his hand at him.

Despite his obvious fatigue, he was a vision. A vision of messy hair, loose flowing off-white shirt, warm brown eyes and cheekbones. A vision of competence and skill.

'Me?' Alex asked with a confused tilt to his head.

'Yeah you, you're distracting.' Michael got set to attack. Alex followed his example.

'Don't lean forward too much, you're telling me what you’re going to do.' Alex stepped forward to block a move Michael hadn't even made yet. 'I can focus when facing you, you should be able to focus when facing me.' Michael huffed.

'You're a trained soldier.' He tried another move, but Alex parried it easily.

'You can fight, Michael. You just can't fight very well with a sword.' Alex broke Michael's initial defence and almost managed to hit him. Luckily, Michael had actually learned something, and he was able to avoid getting hit. The dull blade wouldn't break skin, but it would leave a bruise, a bruise he was pointedly not showing Max. He wasn't sure how serious Max had been about the whole "any mark you leave on him will be doubled on you" but Michael wasn't willing to risk it.

'I think you're supposed to be encouraging me.' Michael questioned as he tried a trick Kyle had taught him. Alex actually had to make an effort to avoid Michael's sword, it felt great.

'You look very good with a sword.'

'I wasn't really talking about that kind of encouragement.' Michael said, blocking a half-hearted attack by Alex. 'But keep going.' Alex laughed easily.

'Your hair looks _particularly_ good today.'

Alex smirked right before attacking. It was a good reminder to him that Alex was holding back when they sparred, there was actually some force behind this strike and Michael stumbled out of the way of it. Alex didn't give him a second to readjust, he just came at him again. In avoiding another attack, Michael tripped over his own feet and landed on his back with a huff. Luckily, the training area didn't have stones on the floor, just dirt.

'Why do I always end up on my back when you're around?' Michael asked, tossing the weapon aside. Alex was standing near his feet, the grey clouds behind him made him look just a little bit menacing. He looked a little bit like he wanted to eat Michael, and he didn't hate it.

'I guess it's fate.' Alex shrugged. He stepped closer and leant forward reaching out a hand to Michael. With Alex hovering over him like this, getting up wasn't really Michael's first priority. So instead of taking his hand, Michael grabbed at Alex's shirt and pulled him towards him.

Alex's eyes widened as he tumbled forward, he managed to catch himself before he headbutted Michael. He appreciated Alex's quick reflexes. He ended up with a leg on either side of Michael. One hand in the dirt next to Michael's head, the other resting on his chest. Alex had to be able to feel his heartbeat.

'That was not the smartest thing you've ever done.' Alex said, with a mild disapproving sigh.

'No, but I do like the outcome.'

'Someone could walk in at any time.' Alex said, but he did slide his hand up Michael's chest and towards his neck.

'I know.' Michael tilted his head back just a little. 'This is the point where you kiss me.' Alex rolled his eyes.

He leant in and kissed Michael softly. Michael hadn't let go of Alex's shirt. He brought the other hand up to bury it into Alex's hair, and pull him closer. Alex relaxed into him, his lips were insistent and quickly erased all other thoughts from his head. Alex's teeth biting at his bottom lip made him gasp and the slide of Alex's tongue against his made him feel like he was drowning.

Hooves on stone had Alex pull back. He looked a little dazed. Then he blinked and his eyes focussed again. His head snapped up and he scrambled to his feet, pulling Michael up with him. Michael swayed as Alex was already moving towards the courtyard entrance with a frown. Michael tried to brush himself off a little before following Alex.

'What the hell are you doing here?' Michael caught as he spotted Alex. He was talking to a man wearing a dark cloak, he just put the hood down as Michael got him in view. He looked like Alex, Michael realized.

'I told you, I need your help.' The man said, the horse looked as restless as the man next to it.

'And I told you I wasn't interested in helping you.' Alex said, Michael could see how tense he was.

'Oh come on, brother-' Oh.  _Oh_. It was one of Alex's brothers.

' _Don't_  call me that.' Alex snapped. 'We are not family.'

'You are a Manes, Alex. As much as you like to pretend it isn't true, it's in your blood.'

'And that makes me sick.' Alex snapped. 'Get out.' Michael wasn't sure if he should say something, draw attention to himself or not. Alex clearly didn't want the man here. He decided to wait, the brother hadn't noticed him yet, and Alex knew he was around, so he probably didn't mind.

'Alex, it's just a small favour-'

'It always starts like that.' Alex took a threatening step forwards. 'Get out, Flint. Before I make you leave.' His brother was taller and broader than him, but he didn't seem to care. He also wasn't armed with anything other than his knife at his back. Michael could see the handle of the brother's sword.

'I'd like to see you try.' The brother said, and that was a bad call.

'You know, showing up here took guts, now I'm going to rip them out.' Alex reached for his knife. Michael felt his breath hitch in his throat.

'Alex!' He called out. The brother's head snapped towards Michael, and Alex stopped moving, hand on the hilt of his knife. The brother narrowed his eyes at Michael and then tilted his head.

'The King's brother?' He said, looking back at Alex. 'What are you up to Alex?'

'I'm teaching the Duke to fight, now, out.' Alex replied. The brother nodded slowly and thoughtfully before holding his hands up in surrender and moving towards his horse.

'Alright. Do all your students call you _Alex_ , or just this one?' Alex, who had released his dagger, clenched his jaw and punched his brother in the face with a quick, vicious strike. His brother stumbled into his horse with a curse as he grabbed at his face.

'Alex! What the hell?' The brother called out, voice slightly muffled because of the hand covering his mouth.

'Out. Before I change my mind about stabbing you in the neck.'

The brother spat what looked like blood at Alex’s feet. Alex didn't take his eyes off his brother as he rode from the garrison. He didn't relax even a little bit, not until his brother had left the courtyard for at least a minute.

Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath that really didn't seem like it helped much. He was still tense as all hell, he was flexing his fingers like he wanted to strangle someone. He turned with an abrupt movement and headed back into the garrison. He headed up the stairs with quick steps.

Michael didn't really know what to do except follow Alex. He followed Alex to his room where he closed the door behind him and locked it. They had learned from the Rosa incident. All musketeers were out searching and following leads about the intruder, but still, precautions. They were searching for the cloaked figure that had tried to break into the palace-

Cloaked figure? Wait.

'Any idea how long your brother has been in Paris?' Michael asked. He wanted to comfort Alex, but there were some questions that needed to be answered first.

'What?' Alex turned to him with a frown. He looked rattled, much more rattled he'd looked when others could still have seen him. 'About a week, why?'

'Are you sure?' Michael pressed. 'The intruder wore a dark cloak right? And they knew what they were doing?' Alex's face did something complicated.

'Yes, I'm sure. He contacted me last week saying he’d just arrived back in Paris.' Alex said, he sounded on his way to angry. 'What are you implying?'

'Well, if he was here earlier, he could be the intruder.' Michael said.

'I'm telling you, he  _wasn't_   _here_.' Alex's frown deepened. 'There is a whole list of suspects we have, my brother is not one of them.'

'I'm just saying-'

'You're just saying he's a  _Manes_  so he's more likely to be the one trying to kill your brother? Am  _I_  on your suspect list too? I am a Manes after all-' Alex's voice was rising by the minute, but it wasn't necessarily anger Michael heard in his voice. It was desperation, fear, panic.

'What? No, Alex that's not what I meant.' Michael stepped closer to Alex, but he paced away from him. 'You seem to distrust him so I was just concerned.'

'Right, because you trust  _me_ , right?' Alex said and when he whirled around to look at Michael again, the expression on his face was like a punch to the gut. He looked desperate. Hurt. Panicked and alone.

'Hey, hey, hey, come here.' Michael reached out to him and Alex didn't move, but he did let Michael pull him closer and into a hug. Well, Michael was hugging Alex and Alex was hugging himself. 'It's alright. Of course I trust you. I'm here, aren't I?' Alex seemed to be breathing that statement in for a couple of heartbeats.

'I can't believe I let that bastard get to me like this.' Alex said softly. Michael ran a hand through Alex's hair.

'Family is complicated.' Alex huffed out a breath.

'Especially when you're the son of a traitor.'

'Or the illegitimate son of a King.' Michael said with a small smile. He bit the inside of his lip for a second. He pushed his ring with the royal seal in a circle around his finger.

'I guess we both had complicated childhoods, huh?' Alex said with a wry smile. Michael didn't know the full extent of what Alex had gone through, but he knew it wasn't nice.

'In different ways, but yeah. You're right.' Michael took a deep breath as Alex relaxed a little. 'I'm sorry for suggesting your brother had to be a suspect, just because he's your brother.'

'No it's fine. I was just freaking out because my brother showed up. He send me a letter a week ago, and I basically told him to piss off. I wasn't really expecting him to just, show up here.' Alex sighed. 'This has always felt like a safe space for me, and now he just decides he's going to march in and mess that up.'

'Would you actually have stabbed him?' Michael asked. Alex shrugged.

'Maybe.' Alex admitted quite casually. Michael must have looked vaguely horrified, because Alex laughed softly. 'We were never close, in fact, at some point I hated him.'

'Why?'

'He always sided with dad over me, even when I was right. He didn't stop covering for and siding with him until he actually-' Alex stopped himself and gave Michael a careful smile.

'Until he stabbed my father in the heart?'

It was something Michael still had difficulty comprehending. How a man that had a child as brave and wonderful and kind as Alex could have been such a backstabbing bastard.

'Yeah, until he did that.'

'How much do you remember of that day?' Michael asked. They usually didn't talk about this, but now that they'd breached the subject, he might as well ask.

'It's strange. I remember certain things very clearly. I remember my father saying goodbye to us that morning. I remember thinking that he was never as nice to us as he was that day. He probably knew it was the last time he'd get to see us. I remember the Red Guard bursting into our house. I remember being interrogated.' Alex said, he had a faraway look in his eyes.

'Did they really believe you had something to do with it?'

'Did you?' Alex asked, his eyes suddenly clear as they focussed on Michael. That was a painful question. 'You refused to see me for months.'

'I was scared and hurt, the King had just recognized me as his son and then he was gone, just like that.' Michael said. 'But I don't think I ever believed you  _actually_ had something to do with it. I just needed time to process what happened, I never even thought about what you must have been going through.' 

'Your father got murdered, I don't blame you.' Alex said, there was no resentment in his voice at all.

'I know, but that doesn't mean I don't feel bad for letting you go through that alone.'

'We barely knew each other back then.'

'I knew you well enough to know that you wouldn't have done something like that.' Michael stressed. He did still feel a pang of guilt when he thought of the heartbroken look on Alex's face as Michael had pushed him away. Michael had been so heartbroken and hurt that he'd lashed out at Alex.

'It's in the past.'

'Is anything ever really in the past?' Michael asked and Alex sighed.

'Yes. If you are both willing to let it go. Move past it. You don't have to forget it happened, but if you can choose not to hold it against each other, you can be together, be  _good_  together.' Alex looked at him with an open, vulnerable look on his face.

Michael looked at him. Really looked. There was always a warm feeling in his chest when he looked at Alex. There was always that spark of heat in his stomach whenever Alex smirked at him. The warmth in his cheeks when Alex would make a vaguely flirty comment. The strength of his hands, the heat in his eyes, the coldness of his anger and the pure thrill of his kisses.

Michael pulled his royal ring from his finger.

‘Here. I want you to have it.’ He held it out to Alex who looked at him with wide eyes.

‘Michael?’

‘I choose you. Every time. You are it for me, Alex. I can barely look at other people without comparing them to you. None of them even come close. I never even believed in true love, or soulmates or something along those lines, but how can I deny that what we have is unexplainable. I love you, I have loved you for a long time, and I know that is too much and too soft and sweet but I just-‘ Alex kissed him.

'I love you too.' Alex said resting his forehead against Michael's. 'God Michael, you can't say things like that to me. You know I'm not good with words like that.'

'It's okay.' Michael tried.

'No, just, hold on.' Alex pushed himself away from Michael, and that was the opposite of what he wanted. He made his way over to his desk and he started rummaging through one of the drawers. He muttered under his breath as he moved on to the second drawer. He seemed to find what he was looking for then, he pulled a silver chain with a coin sized silver object on it from the drawer. 

'Alex?' Michael asked. Alex came walking back over to him. When he ended up back in Michael's personal space, he realized what it was. On the round silver plaque was the stylized M, the Manes family symbol.

'I didn't want to wear it anymore after what my father did, but I wanted to keep it as a reminder to do better.' Alex ran his fingers along the delicate silver chain, and then undid the clasp and let the pendant slip off it. 'The necklace was my mother's.' He said it softly.

Alex had told him about his mom, back when they were seventeen. About how he'd felt she was the only one in his family who had loved him. About how she'd gotten ill. How she'd faded slowly.

'Maybe it's time you start wearing that again, as a memento to someone who loved you, maybe with a reminder of someone who loves you.' Michael held the ring out to Alex again. He smiled softly at it. Alex held out the chain to Michael.

'That is a good idea.' Michael noticed his hands were shaking when he put the chain through the ring.

'Here, turn around.' Alex rolled his eyes but did as Michael said.

Michael put the chain around Alex's neck and fastened it. He pressed a kiss against the back of Alex's neck. He turned Alex around again. The ring was resting right over his heart. Michael had a hard time looking away from the silver against Alex’s skin. Alex was smiling down at it with a painfully soft look on his face.

'Thank you.' Alex said, still looking at the ring. He finally slipped it under his shirt, hiding it from sight, but also putting the silver directly against his skin.

'Don't thank me.'

'Well, what else am I supposed to say?' Alex asked. Michael shrugged.

'I quite like "I love you".' Alex made a face.

'Fine, I love-' A frantic knock on the door startled them both.

'Cap?' Rosa sounded distressed. Alex hurried to the door, unlocked it and opened it.

'What is it?' He asked, he'd jumped right back into Captain mode. Rosa's eyes flickered to Michael.

'Kyle and Maria found something.' Alex made a face at her, wanting her to elaborate. 'About who's trying to kill the King.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning on the next chapter being the last, but there's a few more things that need to happen, so I'm not sure if it's going to really be 1 chapter, or if I'll split it in two. 
> 
> Comments make me squeal with delight!


	6. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘It’s you.’ He said accusingly. Alex recoiled. ‘Trying to follow in your father’s footsteps right? Wanted to follow the family tradition of killing a King?’ 
> 
> ‘What? No, Your Majesty, I would never-‘

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, I'm sorry this took so long. I've been surprisingly busy considering I can't do much of anything right now. Thank you so much for your patience and sticking around!

It was all kind of a whirlwind after that. Alex made Rosa take Michael back to the palace despite his protests. Him and Alex had probably been about as close to a fight as they’d ever gotten. All Alex had done in the end was shove one of their spare swords into his hands “just in case”, clenched his jaw and ordered him to go home.

That was four days ago.

Four days and nothing. Not a word. No musketeers came around to the castle, no information was given and his training sessions got handed over to Noah. It sucked. Noah wasn’t a bad teacher per se, he wasn’t even as judgemental as Michael was expecting him to be, but he was not Alex. He didn’t even come close to being Alex and Michael missed him. They had just sort of figured out that this thing between them was something real and terrifyingly forever, and then whoever this asshole trying to kill Max was, had to go and take up all of Alex’s attention. That wasn’t the only reason he was pissed at this unnamed shadowy figure, of course, there was also the whole thing of him trying to _kill_ _Max_.

He hadn’t seen Alex in four days, he had been wearing the sword Alex had given him on his hip, he didn’t think he’d be able to take a trained assassin or anything, but he figured he could be useful if need be. He nearly tripped over his own feet when he heard Alex’s voice drift down the hallway on the fifth day. He tried to make it seem like was just casually heading into that exact hallway.

‘Your Grace.’ Maria was the first to notice him. Kyle was there too, but all Michael really focussed on was drinking in Alex’s features. Alex’s eyes were roaming all over Michael and that made him feel better.

‘Musketeers.’ Michael said diplomatically. ‘What brings you here? Ready to take over my lessons again?’

‘Apologies, Your Grace.’ Alex smiled at him, and it made him feel warm inside. He was so ridiculous. ‘We’ve been busy, but I trust Duke Bracken has been teaching you some new things?’

‘Yes, he has, but I’ve found that I miss the garrison.’ He didn't just miss the garrison, and Alex seemed to realize that. 'Has Rosa missed me?' Michael asked with a smile that didn't really fit with his etiquette.

'Oh yes, terribly.' Alex said and Kyle gave him a look. He seemed confused.

'Were you heading out?' Michael asked, he should have moved on a while ago, but he just wanted to steal a moment alone with Alex.

'No, we were heading to see Her Majesty.' Maria said politely. Michael nodded, eyes flickering at Alex. Alex glanced at Kyle.

'Can we do anything for you, Your Grace? The information we have does not necessarily need to be relayed by three people.' Alex offered.

'Ah, yes. I was hoping to get a few pointers on this move the Duke taught me, if you would?' He said to Alex, who seemed to bite the inside of his mouth not to smile.

Alex made eye contact, first with Maria who raised her eyebrows and fought a smile, and then with Kyle who still looked a little confused, but also like something was dawning on him. Michael refused to worry about it.

‘Of course, Your Grace.’ Alex said, motioning for Maria and Kyle to go ahead.

They didn’t question him. They stood there and watched as the two musketeers headed down the hall and disappeared from sight. Alex looked like a dream, as usual.

‘Still carrying the sword, Your Grace?’ Alex asked as he dragged his eyes over Michael’s body. It was an excuse if Michael ever heard one. An excuse to let his eyes roam.

‘Well yes, my instructor told me to keep it with me, just in case.’ Michael said as he started heading down the hall towards his private quarters.

‘Sounds like a smart man.’

‘Yes, humble too.’ Alex let out a short burst of laughter that made Michael feel a little drunk. He glanced over and spotted the glistening of the silver chain around Alex’s neck. ‘Are you still wearing it?’ Alex looked at him with soft eyes.

‘Of course.’ Alex said as Michael pushed open the door to his sitting room. ‘I cherish it.’ Alex closed the door behind them and Michael continued further into the room. He made his way into the second room where there was his favourite place in the whole palace.

‘I’m glad to hear that.’ He said as he took off the sword and set it against the wall. He settled onto the soft loveseat. The loveseat had the most spectacular view over the gardens. He could see all of his favourite places, the garden painted a landscape of greens and flashes of colour in between. It was breath-taking. Yet it all seemed so insignificant when Alex settled onto the windowsill. The sun was setting and it was lighting him from behind. He looked angelic. God had certainly taken a little extra time with Alex.

‘You’re staring at me.’ Alex said.

‘I know.’

‘This is very good lighting for you.’ Alex said with a grin. Michael raised his eyebrows.

‘Really now?’

‘Yes, you look positively angelic.’ Michael reached out to grab Alex’s hand where it was resting on his knee.

‘I was just thinking the same thing about you.’ Alex laughed softly.

‘We’re ridiculous, aren’t we?’ He brushed his thumb over Michael’s knuckles.

‘No we’re not. I’ve had to listen to Max spend literal hours waxing poetically about Liz’ hair and her eyes. You telling me I look like an angel isn’t nearly as bad.’ Michael said and Alex laughed again. God he had missed him. ‘Come here.’ He tugged lightly on Alex’s hand. Alex rolled his eyes, but the fond smile negated any effect it might have had.

Alex kissed him soft and sweet and he was practically kneeling in front of Michael. He made an annoyed noise when Alex’s weapons got in the way of Michael reaching for him. Alex laughed against his mouth and with those quick nimble fingers he ditched the belt. It landed on the floor with a thud. Alex settled in his lap fingers entangling themselves with Michael’s hair. They were there for minutes or hours, Michael wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he was just slipping his hand under Alex’s layers when a pounding at the door had them both freeze.

‘Your Grace?’ The voice sounded like it was fighting not to panic.

Alex was off his lap before he could blink, he snatched his belt off the floor and put it back on with quick practiced movements. Michael got up, grabbing the sword from its place against the wall.

‘Yes.’ He said sharply, dragging the door open. The Red Guard standing in front of him looked scared.

‘There has been an attack, you must come quickly.’  He said, trying to appear calm, and failing. ‘We must get you to safety.’

‘Where is my brother?’ Michael demanded before turning around and heading back into his room. There was panic creeping up Michael’s throat. The soldier behind him stuttered and scrambled into the room after him.

‘Your Grace, we must leave it’s not safe here.’

‘I am safe. Tell me where my brother is.’ Michael commanded. The Guard finally noticed Alex as he came from the adjoining room. Surprise and confusion flickered over his face.

‘He asked you a question.’ Alex said, all sharp and business-like. The young soldier blinked at him.

‘The King was attacked, but he was not injured.’ The soldier added quickly. ‘Two musketeers fought the attacker off and he disappeared into the palace.’

‘Take me to him.’ Michael ordered. He wasn’t going to be able to control the spark of panic until he saw Max with his own eyes. The Red Guard glanced at Alex, before starting to lead the way.

They walked in tense silence, there were soldiers rushing all over the place, searching. Alex had his pistol at his side, his eyes swept every hallway with a tense set to his jaw. Michael didn't feel all that scared for himself, not when Alex was around, but his family was a different thing.

'What about Isobel?' Michael asked.

'Another musketeer was with your sister, Your Grace. The younger one. They have not been able to locate Duke Bracken, but they are looking for him as we speak.' There were two rooms assigned for situations like this, Michael's quarters were closer to the room Max would be in. Both rooms had single entrances and no windows.

'Your Grace.' One of the men guarding the door said in relief.

They open the door for him, Alex and the nervous Red Guard. Max was the first thing Michael’s eyes focussed on, he vaguely registered that Alex went to stand off to the side with Maria and Kyle. Max was, uncharacteristically, sitting on the steps, not on the lavish chair set on the small podium for him. Michael realized why pretty quickly. Liz was sitting on her chair, right next to where Max was sitting. It was not in the least bit appropriate, but it was sweet. Whatever happened had clearly scared both of them.

‘Michael.’ Max said, breathing out with a sigh. ‘Thank God.’

‘Are you okay?’ Michael couldn’t help but approach his brother, letting his eyes search for any damage. Max’s hair looked a little less immaculate than it usually did and his clothes looked a little rumpled, but there was no blood.

‘Yes, Valenti and DeLuca kept me from getting my throat slashed.’ Michael flinched at Max’s harsh words. He looked angry. ‘If they hadn’t been here to discuss some things with Liz I would be dead.’ For some reason, Max glanced at Alex.

‘What happened?’ Michael asked.

‘A hooded man in a black cloak tried to kill me.’ Max said, Michael was starting to feel almost uncomfortable under Max’s anger. He felt like he was in the room with a powder keg, ready to explode. ‘And here’s the kicker.’ Max said with a look that could have frozen even the fiercest of fires. ‘The assailant was wearing a necklace with our family ring on it.’

Michael froze. For a second, he actually believed that Max thought it was him. Then he noticed Max’s pointed look at his hands. He wasn’t wearing the ring. He wasn’t wearing the ring, because it was on the chain around Alex’s neck. Alex who was _right there_ and had no alibi except for “I was kissing the hell out of your brother, Your Majesty”. Alex, who Max already distrusted by his last name alone.

‘Now. The only three people that own a ring like that, are me,’ Max motioned a the ring on Liz’ middle finger. ‘Isobel, and you. When is the last time you saw yours, Michael?’

‘I’m not sure, it’s in my room.’ Michael lied. ‘It’s been so warm these last few days, you know how uncomfortable rings make me when it’s hot.’ _That_ was not a lie, per se, Michael did dislike wearing rings when it was hot.

‘Manes.’ Max said, seemingly ignoring what Michael had just said. ‘Come forward.’ Alex took a few steps towards them. He did not look at Michael.

‘Your Majesty?’

‘Show me your necklace.’ Max said, his tone was cold. Alex looked at him, he hid his fear well.

‘Me, Your Majesty?’ Alex asked.

‘Yes, you.’ Max snapped impatiently. All eyes in the room were on Alex and he looked vaguely uncomfortable about it. Michael felt sick, he knew exactly what Max was looking for, and what he would find on Alex’s chain. Alex moved slowly, the Red Guards were watching him with their hands on their weapons. Alex pulled the chain from his shirt, at the end Michael’s ring dangled back and forth softly. Alex let go of it, and let it rest against his uniform. Alex made a valiant effort to keep his face blank when Max stood up with a sharp movement and snarled at him.

‘It’s you.’ He said accusingly. Alex recoiled. ‘Trying to follow in your father’s footsteps right? Wanted to follow the family tradition of killing a King?’

‘What? No, Your Majesty, I would never-‘

‘Then how did you get that ring?’ Max snapped at Alex who stilled. Alex’s eyes flickered from Max to Michael.

‘I don’t-‘ Alex started.

‘Do not lie to me.’ Max snarled. Alex looked torn. Michael knew what he felt like. He couldn’t let Alex go down for something he didn’t do, just to protect himself, especially not an assassination attempt on the King. They would execute him. Michael wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

‘Max.’ Michael said softly. ‘Max, he didn’t do this.’ He pressed when his brother ignored him. Alex’s eyes darted towards him again. He looked like he didn’t know what to do. It broke Michael’s heart to see him so unsettled because of Michael. Michael had put him in this position. Now it was Michael’s job to get him out.

‘He has your ring, Michael.’ Max hissed at him. Michael really wished there weren’t so many guards here for this, so many listening ears. Michael stepped closer to Max, he was a little baffled that the Red Guard actually tensed as he did.

‘I know that, Max. I’m telling you, he didn’t do this.’ Whatever Max was trying to find in his face, he didn’t find it.

‘Then how did he get your ring?’ He asked, jaw clenched and his eyes firmly on Michael.

‘I gave it to him.’ There, he’d said it. Max frowned and titled his head.

‘Everybody except the musketeers, out.’ Max commanded, no one seemed to want to argue with him in that moment, even though it was stupid. Alex was armed after all, and Michael wasn’t sure Maria and Kyle would be a match for him. But Max was the King, so they did as he told them. When the room was almost empty, Max turned back to Michael. ‘Why would you do that?’ Michael swallowed. Alex looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

‘Why did you give yours to Liz? Why did Isobel give hers to Noah?’ Max looked from Alex to Michael and back. He settled with his eyes on Michael, he seemed to realize what was going on, but Michael was going to say it out loud anyways. ‘I love him, Max.’

‘Just because you love him does not mean he wasn’t involved in this.’ Alex made a valiant effort not to look shocked that Michael just admitted that, out loud.

‘He was with me, during the attempt.’ Michael said, shaking his head. ‘It wasn’t him.’ From the corner of his eye he could see Alex freeze.

‘Did you say Isobel gave her ring to Noah?’ Alex asked urgently. He seemed to have suddenly made a connection.

‘Yeah, why? Did you not know that?’ Michael asked with a frown, Alex’s eyes had gone wide.

‘He was nowhere to be found when the assassination attempt happened. We looked for him, but we couldn’t find him, he showed up later.’ Kyle said, he sounded like he’d just figured out something major. Michael was still trying to catch up.

‘Where is he now?’ Max asked, and Alex jumped right back into musketeer mode.

‘Last I know he was with Isobel and Rosa.’ Alex said, his feet shifted and he looked ready to bolt.

‘Go.’ Max said simply, and the musketeers were off. Michael looked after them as they sprinted down the palace hall.

‘What is happening?’ Michael pressed, setting his hand on Max’s arm.

‘It’s Noah.’ Max just said. Michael felt like someone slapped him in the face.

‘What? Why would he do that?’ Michael asked, the three of them were suddenly alone in the room and Michael felt exposed. This was a bad idea. Why the hell did they just send their last security away?

‘He wants to be King.’ Liz said, she wasn’t sitting down anymore, she had her hands folded in front of her. ‘If Max dies without an heir, Isobel is next in line. If Isobel becomes Queen, well, she loves him...’

‘So he wouldn’t hurt Is right?’ Michael asked. ‘Right? She would be his ticket to the throne, right, so he wouldn’t hurt her, right?’ His panic was almost overwhelming him.

‘No, he wouldn’t hurt her.’ Liz said, settling a hand on Michael’s arm.

The room was so quiet, it hurt. Michael hated this. He hated the waiting. The not knowing. He needed to see Isobel, _Alex_ , even Rosa and Maria and Kyle. He needed to get his hands on Noah. The treacherous bastard. He’d even been teaching him how to defend himself, knowing full well he was going to try and kill Max.

Michael was just about ready to burst out of his skin when there was some noise outside and the door opened. Michael was fully ready to see Alex marching in with Isobel right behind him and Noah in chains. Victorious and beautiful. Instead Michael’s heart felt like it fell right into his stomach. Noah came sauntering into the room, two bodies of the men that had been guarding the door came falling into the room with him. He stepped over the bodies with a careless motion. He didn’t seem surprised they had figured out it was him.

‘Good. It seems like my plan worked. It’s really not smart to have your two panic rooms on opposite sides of the palace, it takes so long to get from one to the other.’ Noah said he had his sword at his side, he pushed the doors closed, trapping them in there with him. Suddenly Michael remembered the sword on his hip. He drew it with shaking hands. He made sure to put himself in front of Max.

‘Stay back.’ Michael said, ignoring how he’d sparred with Noah, and there was no way he was going to win this. Noah, the bastard, actually laughed.

‘Oh that’s sweet. Get out of my way. We both know you can’t beat me.’ Noah said, sauntering closer. Michael really wished they’d taught him how to shoot.

‘I can try.’ Michael said, his voice more level than he was expecting it to be. ‘They’ll be back soon. And even if you do kill us, they’ll know it was you.’

‘Oh please, you think they’re going to believe a bunch if lowlife soldiers over me? Especially soldiers lead by a Manes? I’ll blame it all on him, and they’re going to believe me.’ Michael felt angrier than he ever remembered being. So he did the one thing Alex had taught him not to do. He attacked first.

The one advantage it gave him, was that Noah was not expecting that. Still, Michael was clearly outmatched. He heard Liz gasp as he just managed to stop Noah’s sword from slashing his throat. He stumbled backwards, but kicked at Noah’s legs, another move he hadn’t been expecting. Michael heard something crunch as his foot connected with a knee. Noah let out a loud, pained noise and stumbled, Michael took the opening to push him back with a quick series of strikes Alex had taught him. But, even with the injury to his leg, Noah had years of experience on him. It all happened so quickly it would take Michael some time to really process it, but he ended up on his back, sword scattering away from him.

Noah was probably planning for some villainous last words, but he didn’t get the chance. The doors burst open and a gunshot sounded. Michael flinched, somehow expecting pain, but it didn’t come. Noah dropped his sword on the floor with a loud clatter and grabbed for his shoulder. Michael rolled aside just in time as Noah fell over. Behind him, in the door opening was Alex.

‘Oh thank god.’ Michael breathed out as Kyle and Rosa rushed into the room as well, immediately arresting Noah, who was in pain, but didn’t seem mortally injured. Soft hands on Michael’s face made him blink his eyes into focus.

‘Are you okay?’ Alex was hovering over him with concerned eyes. Michael wasn’t sure why, but he laughed. Alex made a face at him that was pure confusion.

‘My hero.’ Michael said, still laughing lightly. Alex let out a breath that was almost a laugh and then pulled Michael up by the front of his shirt, into a hug.

‘God dammit Michael, you scared the hell out of me.’ Alex said softly as Michael allowed himself to burry his nose in Alex’s hair.

‘I guess I’m going to need some more lessons.’ Michael said, and Alex’s shoulders shook with a short laugh.

A pointed cough reminded them they were not, in fact, alone. Even better, Isobel had been lead into the room by Maria. Michael let the last of his tension go at the sight of his sister healthy and well. Max was standing, his hand trapped between two of Liz’. Liz was looking at them with a soft smile. Alex grabbed Michael’s hand and pulled him up to his feet. He let go much too soon.

‘I should go interrogate Bracken, make sure there weren’t any others involved in this plan.’ Alex said, glancing briefly at Michael.

‘Yes, please go do that. Let me know what you find out.’ Max said. Alex bowed and left the room. Michael turned to his brother, pressing his lips together awkwardly.

‘So…’ Michael said, and he saw Liz bite her lip to hide a smile.

‘What exactly did I miss?’ Isobel asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was doing an admirable job of pretending the man she loved hadn’t just tried to kill her brother. That seemed like a topic to breach later when they were alone.

‘Michael is in love with Alex Manes.’ Max said when Michael kept his mouth shut. ‘And for some unfathomable reason, it seems like Manes loves him back.’ Liz made a disapproving noise at Max, she did not seem to appreciate his attempt at humour. ‘It’s a good thing. The council has been jabbering on for a while about how I need to make sure you don’t produce any heirs so you will not try to take over my throne or something. Problem solved.’ Michael gaped at him.

‘That’s _it_?’ Michael asked. ‘You go from “we can’t trust him Michael” to “go spend the rest of your life with him Michael”? Max rolled his eyes, not a very royal thing to do, but a very brotherly thing to do.

‘Look, I may not fully trust him, but I trust you.’

Michael needed a moment to process that. Max knew, he wasn’t disgusted, or angry. He wasn’t calling for Alex’s head. In fact, he looked happy for Michael.

 

It took them all a little while to get back to normal. Isobel woke up from nightmares for the first couple of weeks. It didn’t stop until Maria suggested that she could teach Isobel some self-defence. As it turned out, Isobel was very good at punching things. As for Alex, he made Noah talk, no one asked how, and they figured out he’d been acting alone. His plan had, like Max had suspected, been to kill Max, marry Isobel, and then convince the council that putting two French born, one royal, in charge was better than letting the Spanish widow of their late King rule. It pissed all of them off, but especially Max. Michael honestly believed Max would have executed him himself had that been socially acceptable.

Alex had been spending most of his time in the garrison, as it turned out, Michael was really good with numbers and he’d taken over some of the boring administrative jobs Alex had to do otherwise. It was partially for selfish reasons, if Michael did some of these jobs Alex had more free time. Free time he could spend doing fun things with Michael.

‘Are you okay?’ Michael felt a hand settle on his lower back as Alex came to stand next to him.

‘Yeah.’ Michael said, he’d been staring blankly at the courtyard of the garrison. ‘Just thinking about the last month.’

‘It’s been a little crazy right?’ Alex said with a smile. Beneath them, Rosa was teaching a new recruit the basics of shooting a pistol.

‘A little?’ Michael asked with an easy grin.

‘Yeah. Just a little.’ Alex agreed. Michael leaned in to kiss him, because he could. They only broke apart when a gunshot startled them. Beneath the Rosa cheered as the recruit hit the target. Alex laughed into Michael’s neck. The warm peace that settled over Michael was familiar by now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Done. Thank you so much for reading and commenting and leaving kudos!  
> Now it's time for me to take an actual proper break and stop attempting to type with one hand!
> 
> Comments make me squeal with delight!


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